“Testing has shown that consumers have a high purchase intent through our strong product offering and pack design, so we believe that this will be a real opportunity for retailers to drive incremental biscuit sales for the afternoon, on-the go and evening treating occasion​.”

The new range will be backed by a £4m ($5.19m) marketing push in the UK and is aimed at the afternoon, on-the-go market. “We’ve got a strong multi-channel campaign to support the range in its first year, with the first burst kicking off from the end of August to the end of October​” Sharpe added.

Mondelēz has also jumped on the protein bandwagon with its new Cadbury Boost range of chocolates, released at the end of July.

Boost + Protein contains 12g of protein – which is four times more than the standard Boost bar, as well as 32% less sugar, the company claims. It features the same milk chocolate and caramel combination of the original bar, but with ‘protein crisps’.

Mondelēz’s rival Mars made its debut in protein bars in 2016 with protein versions of Mars and Snickers, which contain 19g and 18g of protein respectively.